#hi yes I don't know what I'm doing

[egophiliac]

(breathing into a paper bag) FRALIO....

can't believe they gave us another guy. oh my god. so I guess Kelka is more, uhhh, more OOO then, and Fralio is Ankh? not that it matters too much, although they do seem to be doing something with the connected Riders so. who knows. anything goes! or if I may, anything gOOOes! god. of course they're the Ambition parallel. of course they are. oh my god.

fortunately there's nothing else they can throw at me right now that could possibly --

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[captain-astors]

The Crown Prince

[fandommothfreak]

Imagining a shamelessly self-indulgent fanfic where Vi gets transported to the Everything's Happy Universe, somehow finds out she died there and that her family survived, assumes she's the cause of everything bad ever, and goes rogue.

Like she doesn't think she can go back home because she's scared that her presence will fuck things over for everyone. And she also can't risk interacting with the alternate versions of her family that she has here (despite how much she wants to), because what if that screws up their timeline and everything goes to shit for them too? She has nothing and no one, and she's not going to kill herself, so she ends up just -- doing what she was doing in her home dimension. Gets a crap apartment, joins an illegal fighting ring, and wallows in her misery.

It's like that for a few weeks, months maybe, before Vander finds her passed out in an alleyway. A black-haired girl that resembles his dead daughter so strongly it feels like his heart gets ripped open all over again, and she's hurt and she's not waking up, and he needs to help her. So he takes her inside, dresses her wounds, and cleans her face (the black paint covering her VI tattoo holds strong). Maybe he tells Silco, gets him to help. Maybe Vi wakes up to the monster that hurt her family, like, checking her temperature or something.

So she punches him in the face, obviously, and Vander comes barging in at the commotion, and Vi freaks the fuck out. She's trapped; tiny room, no windows; Vander -- Vander, her dead father -- is blocking the door; Silco is three fucking feet away from her in the same goddamn room and was just doing who-knows-what to her unconscious body; and Vi? Vi is mid-panic attack, searching for escape, not listening to a fucking word coming out of Vander's mouth. She needs to get out. She needs to get the fuck away before she fucks everything up for everyone and she needs these people to stop looking at her.

Vander and Silco, of course, both see that she's terrified. Silco backs up, gives her space, and Vander holds his hands up, palms out, trying to signal that he's not a threat. He tries to explain what's going on, that no one here is going to hurt her, but that's not what she's worried about, and as soon she spots an opening -- as soon as Vander takes that small step towards her, leaving space between him and the door behind him -- Vi books it. Shoves right past him, up the stairs, and out of The Last Drop, ignoring the startled shouts behind her. (Maybe Powder sees her go. Maybe she, too, is torn up inside by the striking resemblance to her older sister.)

She gets back to her place. She gets back to the shitty little life she's built in this world. And she prays that's the end of it.

It's not.

Vander has imprinted on this girl. She's a stray, like Mylo and Claggor were strays before he took them in. And she's hurting, like (his) Vi and Powder were hurting before he dropped his gauntlets and carried them away from the battlefield. He wants to help her, if he can. Not only that, but she was beat to absolute hell, and he needs to know who did it and why, just in case it's the symptom of a larger problem that needs to be addressed.

So Vander asks around. Silco helps. And Vi may be trying to keep a low profile, but she's still Vi. She wins nearly every fight she's thrown into in the pits, and when she sees someone in real trouble, she steps in. She's hardly invisible, and she ends up kind of making a name for herself, unintentionally. It's not incredibly difficult to find her -- not for them, and not for this universe's Powder, Ekko, Mylo, and Claggor, who find out one-by-one about this random runaway emo chick that broke Silco's nose and kicks ass in a very illegal underground fighting ring.

But here's the thing: the fighting ring Vi's a part of is kind of... inhumane. But Vi doesn't fully realize it because she spent a large portion of her formative years in Stillwater, which was significantly worse. She's fine with being mistreated -- low-key feels like she deserves it, even. The issue comes in when she breaks out of her depressive haze enough to notice the younger, decidedly less deserving recruits getting the same treatment she is. I don't know any of the specifics of the situation, but I do know that I want Vi stepping up and putting herself in the line of fire to protect the people around her. She's a protector at heart, and she's found a tiny piece of herself again.

And what ends up happening is Vi gets progressively more frustrated as her undead dad, his not-husband, and a terrifyingly well-adjusted version of her estranged sister keep trying to track her down and succeeding. And then Ekko joins in on the efforts, and then Claggor, and Mylo, and even Benzo, until she's desperately trying to dodge her entire, irritatingly persistent not-family while also keeping the people she's unwittingly grown to care about safe from the Unspecified Bad Guys controlling the Unspecified Bad Situation in the fighting pits.

I don't have any concrete plot for this or dialogue or anything. It's just vibes. The kiddos thinking Vi is cool as fuck and the dads trying to adopt this feral not-really-a-kid-anymore-but-when-you're-that-old-everyone-looks-like-a-baby child and Vi being unwillingly absorbed into this new found family that hurts to look at because this is what her own family could have been if she hadn't fucked it all up.

tl;dr Vi is a skittish, battered stray cat, and AU!Vander and co. are trying to lure her to safety with treats and affection.

[mercutio-the-velaryon]

You would think Mel Medarda died in the season one finale the way the only discourse about her that gets popular in the wider fandom is about not only her actions in season 1 but a very specific scene in a very specific context like did y'all see her in season two or do you only care when she's a device for Jayce and Viktor's character arcs?

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Wardrobe Woes

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[halfbaked00q]

Im soooo weak to when Bond is like casually being used or exploited at his expense for some ostensible Greater Good except the situation doesn't HAVE to come to that, not really, and he's so inured and even numb to it that he barely pays it any mind; meanwhile, Q absolutely minds and is very indignant on his behalf and works overtime to like either try to avert or forestall the situation before it gets to the point where Bond has to dig his own claws into more of his soft underbelly to offer up on the sacrificial alter of politics of all tawdry things, or to manufacture a way in which he does the needless "needful" so as to spare Bond at least one unnecessary additional wound upon his psyche.

bonus if Bond finds out and maybe after being angry or indignant about it - I don't need you to do my job for me, Q, this is what I'm here to do - and either Q tells him/lets slip or he deduces that like, this isn't Q thinking he can't get the job done, this is Q finding him precious and worthy of protecting, and like. he's just very in awe of that and does in fact feel very safe and cherished within the cradle of his Quartermaster's regard

[crossbackpoke-check]

blessed be (lorscher bienensegen) | telling the bees (wiþ ymbe)

"Bees" [remixed, abridged], Claudia Emerson // "Letter to Someone Living Fifty Years from Now" [remixed. abridged], Matthew Olzmann // "Letter to my Great, Great Grandchild" [remixed, abridged], J.P. Grasser | Len Redkole, Nina Weiss, Brian Babineau, Christian Peterson, Mitchell Leff, Dave Isaac, Megan DeRuchie

[emmavakarian-theirin]

the way the music died at just the right moment made this so perfect

[uncanny-tranny]

You know, I feel like other trans people might get this, but it's honestly kind of refreshing when a cis person has, like, undeniable tboy/tgirl/whatever swag. It's like when you come across somebody who speaks the same language as you and you only find out when they start speaking it, too.

[vulpinesaint]

kind of unfortunate that so many fantasy epics are also war novels because i will be honest i just do not like war novels that much... the grand clashing of forces is compelling obviously but it requires characters to talk about so much practical battle strategy and while i can get my brain to comprehend all these fantasy maps and kingdoms and borders and battalions and front lines and army movements it takes up. so much space in the book. feels like i'm fighting a war of my own trying to get through it sometimes

[sysig]

Wuh oh (Patreon)

Bonus:

The novel experience of being crushed by a giant rock, a visual metaphor

[that-was-anticlimactic]

i will never understand how or why the httyd movies did the books such an injustice.

the movies aren't even an adaptation - they stole the name of the series, the name of some of the characters and places, and the general idea that there are dragons. honestly, i would be fine with the movies and maybe even like them if they didn't capitalize off of cressida cowell's incredible books that never get any credit.

the books are an amazing story about the cycle of violence and how vengeance and revenge is dangerous. hiccup says that the past is a ghost story, one we need to learn from to better ourselves. the books are about how everyone deserves freedom, how every creature, every being on the earth deserves to be free. we see that in the slavemark, with the dragons.

and like... hiccup is so different. they did him a severe injustice. he's scrawny and intelligent and learned to talk to dragons simply by observing them! he chooses kindness first above all else; instead of yelling at toothless to train him, he is kind. and in the end, that kindness is why toothless chose to save him. bc even toothless himself says that dragons are inherently selfish creatures who care only for their survival. hiccup is brave - his beliefs differ drastically from both the vikings and the world.

hiccup is a child who chose to do the right thing even at the expense of himself. he agreed to free the slaves on nobert's ship, and in return, they gave him the slavemark which is easy to give but cannot be removed. he was like twelve. and having the slavemark means he cannot be with his tribe or his family, it means he isn't considered a human being anymore. and he keeps it a secret for awhile until it's revealed and when it is everyone turns their backs on hiccup. his family, his tribe, his mentor, people he TRUSTED. everyone except fishlegs, and, once she got over the shock, camicazi. he was thirteen. and even when he lost his memories and was really injured, he persisted. he was told to go to tomorrow and to save the dragons and he did bc in his heart he knew it was right even though he didn't know who he was or how he got there.

and fishlegs,,, oh my god FISHLEGS!!! the did him SO DIRTY!!! fishlegs is hiccup's best friend, one of the main motivators for hiccup. he steals norbert's potato for the sake of fishlegs, he gives fishlegs his dragon and goes to retrieve another, he takes the blame for fishlegs. and fishlegs does the same for him. he takes the slavemark with pride. he refuses to turn. he gives hiccup his lobster claw necklace which is his most prized possession. he is brave for hiccup, he believes hiccup is alive. he fights for hiccup harder than anyone else ever has. he does not turn. his is loyal, has allergies, has asthma, has a squint and a limp, has glasses bc he's blind without them... and he's still a hero despite being a runt, despite everyone even the adults telling him he's hopeless, telling hiccup to leave him behind.

and they cut camicazi! i'm sorry, but astr*d is nothing compared to camicazi. camicazi is a tiny, feral child who can easily best hiccup, fishlegs, and pretty much anyone in a sword fight. she can bring a grown man to tears with her rudery and smack talk. she is recklessly brave and craves adventure and follows hiccup blindly bc she trusts him that much. she isn't in love with hiccup - in fact she doesn't care about romance and love. she gives up everything to help hiccup bc she has a strong sense of justice. she is the motivator, the cheerleader, she finds a positive in everything. she never gives up. literally never gives up. and that's one of the most inspiring things about her: she always has hope.

and toothless! god!!! toothless is *thought to be* a common or garden dragon. he is horrifically tiny, he is literally toothless, and is the biggest brat in the world. he will cause problems on purpose. he has a stutter, he's the most selfless selfish dragon around. he and hiccup can talk to each other. he masks his fear with singing and being annoying. his growth is remarkable. he starts off refusing to obey hiccup, doing the opposite of what he says, making life harder for literally everyone around him, and he's still somewhat like that. but he's also braver, more caring, more willing to make sacrifices for the sake of others. he's clever, which he needs to be to make up for his size and aggression. he protects hiccup with everything he has, therefore, he protects what hiccup cares about just as hard. he was the only dragon that didn't abandon the vikings in the first book bc he cared about hiccup.

and snotlout,,, god,,, i will never forgive the movies for butchering snotlout. hiccup's cousin, the bully character, the one who is horrifically jealous that hiccup's dad was born before his. the one who desperately wants to prove himself, to be worthy, to make people proud. and you hate him, you despise him. he betrays everyone many times bc of the nothing promised to him by alvin and his mom. he loses himself, turns his back on himself, all bc he wants to prove himself. all bc he wants to be better than hiccup. and hiccup still forgives him and gives him chances, sometimes out of pity, but also bc snotlout is his cousin. he can't just turn his back on him no matter how miserable snotlout made his life. and in the end, snotlout sacrifices himself for hiccup. he gives up his life for hiccup in one last attempt to set things right. his death and the events preceding it are one of my absolute favorite moments in the book. gives me chills. makes me cry.

that's the thing with the books - they're so realistic. there is no inherently happy ending where everything works out. the first book begins with "there were dragons when i was a boy", implying that they're gone now. the books show there are consequences to our actions. they enslaved the dragons, they fought against them during the dragon rebellion all bc alvin and his mom said to, and now they're gone bc a simple apology doesn't fix hundreds of years of enslavement. and the only way for the world to move forward was for the dragons to leave and heal on their own. and now they have to learn to live without them. and yeah i've heard the third movie ends like that but. it doesn't have the build up. it doesn't have "there were dragons when i was a boy". it doesn't have eleven books of development to back it up, to make it feel meaningful.

i know that the movies are really special to a lot of people. i know that, on their own, they're genuinely good movies. i can acknowledge that the soundtrack is amazing and the animation is beautiful. i just can't see past the way they butchered the world that i love, the world that i grew up with. i can't see past the way people yelled at me for saying i liked the books better, the way that people gave me weird looks when i showed them a picture of the original toothless, when i tell them that nightfuries aren't even a type of dragon. cressida cowell created hundreds of different dragons, and the movies couldn't even pick from that. i can't forgive the way that barely anyone knows there are books bc the movie barely gives credit to them. i cannot forgive the way they capitalized off the books and then shoved them aside. i know cressida thinks they're good movies and i know a lot of httyd book fans also like them. but i just... i cannot get over how much they changed and how they missed so much and ignored the books. also they got rid of camicazi so hiccup could have a love interest and that is unforgivable to me.

if you disagree, that is a-okay. we're all entitled to our own opinions. i just ask that you, perhaps, try the books out. give them a chance. bc they're amazing works of art and also just like. don't yell at people who don't like the movies? whether it's bc they prefer the books or just aren't into that kind of movie. and just remember that dreamworks didn't come up with the story; cressida cowell did.

[electroniccollectiondonut]

I have not been in this fandom long enough to reasonably judge others' takes however. "EPIC fans are so silly to characterize odysseus as feeling guilty for his actions don't you know he's a war criminal" is definitely a wild one. like first of all to each their own so settle down and let people enjoy things ok. and secondly making choices with a bad outcome, even knowingly and deliberately, does not exclude the possibility of feeling bad about it later. in fact it makes for a much more in depth character because then you get to explore what he does or doesn't feel guilt over, and why, and if that guilt ever edges into regret or not.

[pocketramblr]

Inspired by this post: give Bruce a star sapphire ring

I've never met anyone who cared as deeply for his fellow man as Bruce Wayne

[insomnya777]

do you guys know that youtube dating show called the button. because i was watching it with my friend the other day bc we were bored and we were like this seems funny and i somehow got a boat boys fic idea based off of it. so if i make a fic about the button dating show will people underdtand or is it too niche

[transmechanicus]

Really fucked up that two ppl can care about each other and make their best efforts to communicate and still end up hurting each other so badly they cannot stand to be in the same room.